But in Lorenzo's eyes I was only a canary. Presentable, and obedient?
How ridiculous.
I nodded. If that was how it was, then fine.
It hurt, deep down. But I was someone who could pick things up and set them down again.
I had come here to hold on to him.
And if I couldn't, then I would let go.
I looked at Lorenzo, gave a bitter little smile, and said, "All right, then. I wish you every happiness."
With that, I turned to step down from the dais.
Lorenzo's hand clenched around the stem of his glass, hard enough to whiten his knuckles. He looked away, refusing to meet my eyes.
But Bianca planted herself in front of me, laughing that mocking laugh. "You came all this way, so you'll stay and watch the union. Otherwise you're snubbing me, Bianca Ferraro. You're snubbing the Ferraro name. You're snubbing all of Boston!"
"That grand, are we?"
I laughed.
I'd heard lines like that before.
New York is a wide territory, after all, and not every crew knows whose ring they should be kissing. There are always people who try to throw their weight around, and sooner or later some of it lands on me.
But after I dealt with a few who couldn't see straight, no one in the city dared talk to me that way again.
Bianca didn't catch the contempt in my voice. She just clapped her hands, the diamonds on her fingers catching the light.
And then a crowd of men in black closed in around the dais, jackets cut loose over what they carried beneath.
"Bitch, if I'm not happy today, you don't leave this room."
That was Bianca.
Lorenzo crossed to me quickly, glaring. "Get out. Now. I don't want to see your face again."
"Did I say you could speak?"
Bianca's face went cold. She touched the stones at her throat as if they might answer for her. "You think I'm stupid? You think I can't see you're shielding this little bitch?"
Shielding me?
I looked at Lorenzo, a long look, and saw his eyes were full of worry.
Maybe everything he'd said before had been a lie.
Lorenzo shook his head. He pressed his thumb flat against his knuckles, holding some line I couldn't see. "I just don't want any more ties to people from my past. And this is our alliance. What business does my ex have at a sit-down like this? How does it look for you when word gets around the table?"
His tone softened a great deal. "Bianca. I'm thinking of you."
That eased her expression a little, but she still said, "I'm not afraid of looking bad. In this little patch of Boston, I am the sky."
She pointed at me. "Go down and watch the union."
I nodded, gave Lorenzo a look somewhere between a smile and none at all, and stepped down.
But the moment my feet left the dais, four of the men in black closed in around me.
Then they steered me to a chair in the corner and sat me down.
Terrified I might run, apparently.
From up on the dais, Bianca called out, "Bitch, you sit there and enjoy the union. I say you don't leave, so you don't leave."
"You won't let me leave now. But when you want me gone, I won't be going anywhere."
I smiled faintly.
"Shut your mouth!"
Lorenzo barked it.
I smiled and said nothing. They were the ones who wanted to keep this game going, so they couldn't blame me for what came after.
Bianca went on, "I hear you're from New York. How nice. Some important people from the city are coming a little later. Young gentlemen with real weight on the Commission. I'll introduce you. Consider it a lesson in how the real world works."
"Well, thank you in advance."
I couldn't help smiling again.
Just then a group of people came over.
Young, all of them, and every one of them wearing that swaggering arrogance that comes with borrowed money and no bloodline behind it.
Bianca's little pack of hangers-on, no doubt.
"Little bitch, wouldn't life be easier if you'd just stayed away?"
"You actually thought Lorenzo could protect you?"
"Let me be honest with you. Even if you hadn't shown up today, Bianca wasn't going to let you off. How could she stand to let the woman who had her fiancé for four years keep breathing?"
"I've got my phone right here. Want me to make a call for you? Have someone come take out the trash?"
